Device for fastening wall covering fabrics

ABSTRACT

The invention pertains to a device for fixing and stretching wall fabrics, characterized by the fact that it consists of combining at least one section consisting of a sole-piece in the form of a flat strip the two lengthwise edges of which are curved towards each other in such a way as to form two hooking grooves, with a further section having a cross-section in the shape of a wide open V the two lengthwise edges of which are also curved towards each other in such a way as to form two hooking elements and, at the top of the V, a hollow rib of which the entry on the concave side of the section is narrower than the width at the bottom of the hollow, the two sections being made of a deformable elastic matter.

United States Patent Tombu Dec. 30, 1975 [5 DEVICE FOR FASTENING WALL 3,803,671 4 1974 Stuppy 24 243 K COVERING FABRICS FOREIGN PATENTS on APPLICATIONS 1 1 lnvenlorl Gerard J- Tflmbu, Rue des 1,026,589 4/1966 United Kingdom 24 243 K Bouchers, F-O2 Saint-Quentin, France Primary ExaminerBernard A. Gelak [22] Filed: Aug. 13, 1974 Attorney, Agent, or FirmBac on & Thomas [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 2, 1974 France 74.26918 52 U.S. c1 24/243 K; 24/243 SL; 160/327; 160/392 [51] Int. Cl. A4413 21/00; A47l-i 23/00 [58] Field of Search 24/73 CH, 243 K, 243 N, 24/243 M, 248 SL; 160/327, 392, 394

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,390,608 9/1921 Fleming 24/243 K 2,754,518 7/1956 Vary 24/243 K 2,950,727 8/1960 Dunn 24/243 K 3,543,326 12/1970 Rohrberg 24/243 K [57] ABSTRACT The invention pertains to a device for fixing and stretching wall fabrics, characterized by the fact that it consists of combining at least one section consisting of a sole-piece in the form of a flat strip the two lengthwise edges of which are curved towards each other in such a way as to form two hooking grooves, with a further section having a cross-section in the shape of a wide open V the two lengthwise edges of which are also curved towards each other in such a way as to form two hooking elements and, at the top of the V, a hollow rib of which the entry on the concave side of the section is narrower than the width at the bottom of the hollow, the two sections being made of a deformable elastic matter.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures DEVICE FOR FASTENING WALL COVERING FABRICS This invention concerns the technique of hanging and stretching wall fabrics. More particularly it concerns a technique consisting of fixing shaped sections along two parallel edges of the wall to be covered; of fixing other shaped sections on two parallel edges of the fabric and of hooking the said sections that are on the fabric to the said sections that are fixed on the wall.

The fabric is stretched by turning one or both of the sections attached thereto.

In this technique, the sections are of particular importance, since they have to hook on perfectly securely and enable quick, effortless placing.

To that end, the device according to the invention utilizes sections which, with extremely simple particularities, comply with the said conditions.

These particularities are such that the sections attached to the wall and those attached to the fabric are mutually interlocked under permanent tension. The latter is determined by the fact that the sections attached to the fabric are such that they can be interlocked in the sections attached to the wall only following transversal elastic strain.

Therefore the device according to the invention consists of combining at least one section formed by a sole-piece in the shape of a flat strip the two lengthwise edges of which are curved towards each other so as to form two hooking grooves, with a further section having a cross-section in the shape of a wide-open V the two lengthwise edges of which are also curved towards each other so as to form two hooking elements and, at the top of the V, a hollow rib the entry to which, on the convex side of the section, is narrower than the width at the bottom of the hollow, these two sections being made of a deformable material.

Such characteristic sections are described in detail below, reference being made to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents, in cross-section, a shaped section of the type intended for fixing to the fabric;

FIG. 2 represents, in cross-section, a shaped section of the type intended for fixing to the wall;

FIG. 3 represents, in cross-section, the shaped section in FIG. 1 in its form after engagement in the shaped section shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 represents, in cross-section, a view of the shaped section with fabric attached thereto, being inserted into the sole piece; and

FIG. 5 represents, in cross-section, a view of the assembled device attached to a wall with held fabric extending over the device.

The shaped section in FIG. 1 consists of two wings 2-3 joined by a hollow rib 4 of which the width L of the opening 5 is less than the width LI of the bottom of the hollow 6 of the said rib. The rims 7-8 of the said entry 5 have a lengthwise slot, respectively 9-10. The two wings 2-3 are inclined, in relation to the horizontal plane, at an angle alpha around IS", the whole of the shaped section therefore having a section in the form of a wide open V the angle gap of which is around I50".

The outside lengthwise edge 11 of wing 2 is curved inwards in such a way as to show a cylindrical part 12 of a radius R of around l.5 mm extended by a tangential or approximately tangential edge I3 inclined at an angle beta of around 50 in relation to the plane defined by the said wing 2. The outside of the said curved 2 part-possesses small channels, scores or other similar conformations. The outer lengthwise-edge I4 of wing 3 is curved inwards-in such away as to show a cylindrical part I5 of a radius R1 ofaround 1 mm extended by a tangential or approximatelytangential edge 16, parallel to the plane defined by the said wing 3.

The shaped section l7-shown in FIG. 2 consists of a flat sole-piece l8 the'two lengthwiseedges 19-20 of which are curved inwards in such a way as to form two hooking grooves. Onits inside, preferably scored, edge 19 has a shape and dimensions similar, respectively, to the shape and dimensions of the outer wall of the lengthwise edge 11 of section 1 bounded by the cylindrical part 12 and the tangential or approximately tangential part 13 in such a way that the said adjacent edge 11 of the wing of section 1 can adjust itself correctly in the curved edge of section 17. The other adjacent lengthwise edge '20 has a cylindri'cal part 21 the inside radius R2 of which is equal'or approximately equal to the radius of the outside of the cylindrical part 15 of the lengthwise edge 14 of section 1. This cylindrical part 21 'is extended by a tangential or approximately tangential part22.

The sections 1 are intended to be fixed on'the edges of a wall fabric F, whereas the sole piece sections 17 are intended to be fixed on the wall or partition W to be covered. Prepared in this way, a section 1 is intended to be'engaged in a section 17. This engagement is effected in such a way that section 1 is placed permanently under a certain tension caused by dropping the wings 2-3 which, as shown in FIG. 3, are brought into one and the same plane. To that end, the overall width L2 of a section 1 after being placed in position is equal to or very slightly less than the width L3 measured between the bottom of the curved lengthwise edges 19-20. lpso facto, the overall width L4 of a section 1 before being placed in position is slightly less than the said width L3. It is also observed that when section 1 is interlocked in a section 17, the width L of entry 5 of the hollow rib 4 becomes equal to L5, which cooperates in better attachment of the fabric respectively of the rod R inserted in the said hollow rib 4.

These sections will be advantageously executed by extrusion of a plastic, generally a vinyl chloride. For sections with an average width. of 60 mm, a thickness of about I millimeter can be accepted. The result is that the quantity of plastic utilized for the said sections is relatively very small, which also plays its part in the economic nature of the device which is the subject of the invention.

In employing these sections one could, for instance, fix sole piece sections 17 along the upper and lower edges of the wall W to be covered; fix sectionsl on two parallel edges of the fabric F, preferably using a flexible rod engaged with the adjacent part of the fabric in the said hollow rib 6; engage the sections 1 attached to the upper edge of the fabric in the sections 17 attached to the upper edge of the wall; engage the sections I attached to the lower edge of the fabric in the sections 17 fixed along the lower edge of the wall W, and, finally, turn the upper and/or lower sections pro rata to the tension to which the fabric is to be submitted.

Various modifications can of course be made by a skilled person to the device which has just been described solely as a non-limitative example, without going outside the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A device for fixing and stretching wall fabrics, comprising: a sole piece in the form of a flat strip adapted to be secured to a wall, the side edges of said flat strip being curved toward each other forming at each side of said flat strip a hooking groove, one of the hooking grooves having a larger curve radius than the other of the hooking grooves; and a shaped section comprising a hollow rib portion having a relatively narrow entry opening, a wing portion extending outwardly from each side of the entry'opening of said hollow rib portion, the lengthwise edges of the wing portions being curved toward each other forming at each side of the shaped section a hooking element, the curve radius of one of the hook elements corresponding to that of said one hooking groove and the curve radius of the other hooking groove corresponding to that of the other said hooking groove, the shaped section being dimensioned to be inserted in the sole piece with the hooking elements of the shaped section dis-' posed within the corresponding hooking grooves of the sole piece for securing fabric between said sole piece and said shaped section, whereby held fabric extending from between said one hooking groove and one hooking element and over the device is spaced above said 4 other hooking groove and hooking element.

2. Dcvice 'according to claim'l wherein said wing portions in the unstressed condition are disposed relative to one another at an angle of substantially 3. Device'according to claim 1 wherein the inner surface of said one hooking groove, on the one hand, and the outer surface of said one hooking element, on the other hand, are both scored.

4. Device according to claim 1 wherein within the hollow rib and towards the entry thereof, there are, on either side, lengthwise slots bounding the rims of said entry.

5. Device according to claim 1 wherein a flexible rod is inserted in the said hollow rib whereby a loop of fabric extending into the interior of the hollow rib portion and around said rod, is frictionally held between the rod and the adjacent interior walls of the hollow rib portion.

6. Device according to claim 1 wherein, the overall width of the shaped section when inserted in the sole piece is slightly less than'the'internal width of the sole piece. 

1. A device for fixing and stretching wall fabrics, comprising: a sole piece in the form of a flat strip adapted to be secured to a wall, the side edges of said flat strip being curved toward each other forming at each side of said flat strip a hooking groove, one of the hooking grooves having a larger curve radius than the other of the hooking grooves; and a shaped section comprising a hollow rib portion having a relatively narrow entry opening, a wing portion extending outwardly from each side of the entry opening of said hollow rib portion, the lengthwise edges of the wing portions being curved toward each other forming at each side of the shaped section a hooking element, the curve radius of one of the hook elements corresponding to that of said one hooking groove and the curve radius of the other hooking groove corresponding to that of the other said hooking groove, the shaped section being dimensioned to be inserted in the sole piece with the hooking elements of the shaped section disposed within the corresponding hooking grooves of the sole piece for securing fabric between said sole piece and said shaped section, whereby held fabric extending from between said one hooking groove and one hooking element and over the device is spaced above said other hooking groove and hooking element.
 2. Device according to claim 1 wherein said wing portions in the unstressed condition are disposed relative to one another at an angle of substantially 150*.
 3. Device according to claim 1 wherein the inner surface of said one hooking groove, on the one hand, and the outer surface of said one hooking element, on the other hand, are both scored.
 4. Device according to claim 1 wherein within the hollow rib and towards the entry thereof, there are, on either side, lengthwise slots bounding the rims of said entry.
 5. Device according to claim 1 wherein a flexible rod is inserted in the said hollow rib whereby a loop of fabric extending into the interior of the hollow rib portion and around said rod, is frictionally held between the rod and the adjacent interior walls of the hollow rib portion.
 6. Device according to claim 1 wherein, the overall width of the shaped section when inserted in the sole piece is slightly less than the internal width of the sole piece. 